Expect a good time at Robert Earl Keen show

Published: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 12:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 4:33 p.m.

In nearly 30 years of touring, Robert Earl Keen has headlined festivals and filled stadiums. His hard-driving tales drawn from the heart of Texas and beyond have poured out from tiny stages in noisy barrooms and quiet theaters.

He and his band have even seen their audience through the bars of a bullpen, choking through the dust to play yet another show.

On a recent morning from his home office in Kerrville, Tex. - home of Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and country singing legend Jimmie Rodgers - Keen, who will play Ziggy's in downtown Wilmington on Sunday, recalled some of his best and worst adventures and what keeps the experience fresh after three decades and thousands of concerts.

"I like performing. It's the best part of my day. It's not like, 'Oh, crap we've got to go on stage.' It's, 'Oh, good, we get to go on stage.' To stop this waiting around or this boredom or eating this lousy piece of fish. Yes, this is what we've been waiting for all day. That's always been my take on it. I'm ready to go play."

Keen recently closed the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. Keen has played the festival for the last nine years, and it's become a special event for him because so many in the crowd there are not necessarily fans of country or Americana music.

"It was a rockin' good time," he said. "Every year we feel like this is our last year, they're never going to have us back, but truly every year it gets better. This year was out of the box, jumped out and screamed and blew up. It was fun."

A member of the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame, Keen alters the set list each night to fit the venue and crowd. Songs like "The Road Goes on Forever" and "Gringo Honeymoon" are certain to appear, but other selections depend on what feels right during the pre-show sound check.

Honest about his limitations as a singer but blessed with a gift for rhyming narrative, Keen started playing guitar and writing songs while attending Texas A&M in the 1980s. He met Lyle Lovett there, and the two returned to their alma mater last month to play to a crowd of 50,000 at Kyle Field on the night before the Texas A&M-Alabama football game.

Despite lean years starting out, Keen persevered. He was too stubborn to quit and had no desire to put his English degree to use.

"I also thought there wasn't an employer out there in the world who wanted me back in the work force," he said.

And while his career took off when fellow Texas legend Joe Ely recorded "The Road Goes on Forever" in 1993, there have, of course, been forgettable moments along the way.

"Not long ago, I had a string of dates that weren't very good. When you get 'em in a row like that, it's like playing baseball when you have four or five losses in a row," he said. "You really start rethinking your career and your ability. There's a lot of big question marks, like, 'How did this happen and what am I doing and why are we failing so miserably?'"

Playing that show in the bullpen and opening last summer for Willie Robertson of the reality TV show "Duck Dynasty" come to mind for Keen. But, in both cases, he and his band played on.

Up next is a bluegrass record. Keen heads into the studio to record in three weeks with a band that includes longtime guitarist Rich Brotherton and bassist Bill Whitbeck, along with Kim Walter of the Greencards, Sarah Watkins of Nickel Creek and banjo player Danny Barnes.

It will include traditional bluegrass songs, the requisite murder ballads and lost love songs.

"I love bluegrass. That's how I started playing in the first place," Keen said. "I'm not claiming to be a bluegrass player. I've just always loved the music like a mediocre guitar player would love jazz or something."

But first there are a few more shows on this tour, with the raucous crowd Keen draws sure to follow, as the party never ends.

"People come to my shows to have fun," he said. "There's no doubt. It's not ... to sit there and worship at the altar. They're here to have a good time. We have beer sales records all across America for years and years and years. We put on a really good time, that's our thing."

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